Hard Times
by Eyes-of-Crimson
Summary: Foilshipping, Vampire Hunter AU. Yuma's oh-so-good vampire friend Shingetsu always needs someone to get a snack off of in the bathroom stalls, and it's always Yuma to no one's surprise since he's been keeping it a secret this whole time.


Reposted from Tumblr! From a Vampires+Vampire Hunters AU I have but never really go into.

**Content warning**, blood, implied manipulation/coercion, the whole Shingestu douchepackage

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"It's for the best, isn't it, Yuma?"

Yuma manages to smile even though he's shaking and holding onto his upper arm for stability while he watches Shingetsu even though it makes him shiver. His friend's face has blood smeared over it, around his mouth and leaking out the corners of his lips, and when he grins his teeth are coated with red. Yuma's gradually running out of stories to explain why there are thick bandages around his wrists and inner elbows every week or other day or so, and there's a bubbling stew of anxiety building up in his stomach as the amount of close calls with Astral discovering his secret become. He's surprised Kaito of all people hasn't figured it out by now, that he's been regularly feeding a vampire for the past two months in bathroom stalls, but he's been trying his best to hide it from everyone to the extent of avoiding them, and he shouldn't be ungrateful for his efforts working; he'd rather not have to explain why he's been lying to and misleading them this entire time.

Shingetsu licks up the stray blood around the bite on Yuma's arm, and gently closes his lips over the puncture to give it one last suck before he looks up at Yuma with a closed smile. Yuma laughs a little and pulls back his arm while fumbling with the roll of bandages he always has on his person. "Uh, yeah, right..."

Usually he wraps himself up while Shingetsu cleans himself, which he wouldn't have to do if he wasn't such a messy eater in the first place, and by this point they're done with the whole thing, so Yuma's shocked when Shingetsu grabs and pulls his arm back to him. At first Yuma's concerned that Shingetsu maybe wasn't done yet until he notices that Shingetsu's other hand is being held out and his eyes are pointedly staring at the bandages in Yuma's hand. He's not entirely sure what to make of this all at once, he feels woozy, so he just looks between his friend and his bundle of "make the bleeding stop."

"Here, I'll take care of this. I took more than usual today, it's the least I can do," he offers with an apologetic smile as he rubs his thumb soothingly around the clotting punctures. Yuma hesitates, but ultimately nods and relinquishes the bandages. Shingetsu then nudges Yuma around in a semi-circle by his shoulder, hinting for him to sit on the toilet now. "You're shaking, Yuma, sit down. Why didn't you tell me this was too much?" he chastises as Yuma plops down off his wobbling legs.

"I didn't notice, I guess," Yuma ventures. He's become so used to being pulled into the stall without a word and pushed out when Shingetsu's done and cleaned up, that this sort of...aftercare, he guesses, is a little foreign to him. But Shingetsu said he drank a lot more than usual, so it makes sense that he feels bad; they're good friends and Yuma trusts him, so he's content to let the oddness slide and give control to Shingetsu. He actually relaxes against the toilet tank, letting his arm fall semi-limp in Shingetsu's firm hands as he's bandaged, and uses this time to think of what his excuse could be this time if the "it's still healing from last time" one gets debunked. It's still a stressful situation, but he feels it less with Shingetsu handling his arm and his wound, gently handling him and taking care of him. It's a nice change from when his friend is eating from him, honestly, because he gets...scary, sometimes, with the smirks on his face and the enthusiasm he plunges into Yuma's arm with and-

"There! All done and ready to go!"

Yuma jumps out of his trance of calling back the more frightening and concerning moments of having a vampire best friend who feeds from him whenever he wants, and is brought back to the reality of Shingetsu smiling at him, even if it's obscured by him trying to rub off the excess blood around his mouth. Yuma smiles back because yes, this is okay, even if he feels the pit of guilt deep in his gut, because he's helping his good friend who cares about him, too, even if he's having to lie to all his other friends to protect him.

He laughs a bit and reaches up to wipe off a smudge of blood off Shingetsu's cheek. "Thanks a bunch! It feels great, I usually do it too tight or too loose on myself," he laughs. Shingetsu's giving him a weird look after the smudge-rubbing, but Yuma's chalking that up to it being kind of a weird gesture that came out of nowhere. He starts to retreat his hand when the smudge is gone, but Shingetsu grabs his wrist so fast he doesn't realize it until his palm is being pressed to Shingetsu's nose and mouth.

Shingetsu sniffs, and his mouth curls into a grin against Yuma's palm, and Yuma feels the rising anxiety bubble up into his chest from his stomach. "I love your smell, Yuma," Shingetsu purrs with a look that reminds Yuma of a wolf. He tugs his hand back a bit, it's an act of defiance and Shingetsu holds him there, but his expression softens into something less concerning and more endearing, especially when he adds, "It comforts me during these hard times of hunters around every corner to know I have a friend in all of this, and whenever I smell you I always remember this."

Yuma's mixed feelings right now are about as messy as the way Shingetsu eats, but his determination to be hopeful and optimistic override the fading red alerts in his mind, so he just grins and gives him a thumbs up with his free hand.

"Hey! It's no problem! We're friends and you can trust me to protect you!"

Shingetsu covers his mouth with Yuma's hand, but he can feel a smile being pressed firmly against his palm, almost purposefully. "Thank you, Yuma."


End file.
